Question: What color bird feeder are birds most attracted to, red or yellow?
Hypothesis: I think that birds will be most attracted to the yellow bird feeder. I'm a little nervous that the birds will not eat from either feeder at all, there is no perch on my circular-shaped bird feeders. I do not know if it will make a difference or not, but if I was a bird, I would much rather have something to stand on. Although, I don't know why so many companies would make bird feeders without perches if they didn't work.
Reasoning: Throughout my research, I found that birds are most often attracted to flowers, bird feeders, or any other colored object, that has the same or similar colors to their own plumage. I could find no hard evidence online about what color bird there is most of in North Carolina. Our state bird is a cardinal, but I don't see many of them around. I see a lot of yellow finches and as you may have guessed, Yellow Finches are yellow. Since I have a yellow bird feeder, the most seed will probably be eaten from the yellow bird feeder.
Variables: An independent variable is something in your experiment that you can change. My independent variable is the color of the bird feeders. A dependent variable is the variable in your experiment that your are depending or relying on to make your experiment work. My dependent variable is the birds. This is because if the birds don't eat from one of the bird feeders, I won't be able to have an experiment. My controlled variable was the color of the bird feeders as well because their colors stayed the same throughout the whole experiment.
Materials:
2 bird feeders (red and yellow)
Bird seed
I filled each bird feeder with 3 cups of birdseed.
A tree to hang them on
I placed my bird feeders approximately 1 foot apart but moved them closer together for the pictures.
Procedure: 1. Fill bird feeders with birdseed 2. Hang bird feeders 3. Leave bird feeders out for 1 week 4. Measure how much birdseed is in each bird feeder
Notes: Week 1:
Day 1, Week 1
Birds have not yet found the bird feeders. Sunny, very little clouds. Very warm
Day 2, Week 1
Birds still have not eaten anything. Cloudy and cool outside. Rain is very light and stops on and off. Light breeze. 1 squirrel
Day 3, Week 1
Rain pours then drizzles. A few birds eating. Although there is rain, it is still warm
Day 4, Week 1
Birds are eating from both feeders. but there isn't a noticeable drop in the weight . Sunny with clouds in the sky. Everything is still wet from yesterday.
Day 5, week 1
I have not seen any birds but the seed seems to have gone down a bit. Sunny with clouds.
Week 2:
Day 1, Week 2
A few birds have been checking out the bird feeders. Sunny and a light breeze
Day 2, Week 2
Many more birds are eating from the bird feeders. About equally from each color. A slight amount more bird seed in the red feeder.
Day 3, Week 2
There is now a visible difference between the red and yellow feeders. I see a lot more squirrels as well as birds around the tree where my feeders are hung
Day 4, Week 2
Today it is sunny and cold. I am seeing less birds and more squirrels which is annoying. I think the squirrels are scaring the birds away.
the seeds are sprouting!
Day 5, Week 2
There is an obvious difference in the amount of seed but I have now stopped seeing birds completely.
There is a bit of mold in the feeders because of the moisture, the seeds are also sprouting. Lots of bugs.
Results:
As you can tell from my notes, the second week worked much better than the second week. And as you can see from the pictures, the yellow obviously had more birds visit. Because of moisture in the bird feeders, a bit of mold started to grow and the seeds began to sprout. Bugs started to fly around a lot which I would think would be more appealing to a bird. I am very happy with how my experiment turned out the second time.
Discussion: The first time that I tried my experiment, The birds did not find the bird feeders. A little bit of bird seed appears to have been eaten but the level of bird seed only dropped a tiny bit. I'm not sure if this outcome is because the birds just didn't find my feeders or if it is because of my perch hypothesis. I will try my experiment again this week and hopefully it have more success. The second time I did my project, I had much better results. I sprinkled a handful of bird seed under my bird feeders to hopefully attract more birds. It definitely did.
Bird feeders: Red or Yellow?
Question:
What color bird feeder are birds most attracted to, red or yellow?
Hypothesis:
I think that birds will be most attracted to the yellow bird feeder. I'm a little nervous that the birds will not eat from either feeder at all, there is no perch on my circular-shaped bird feeders. I do not know if it will make a difference or not, but if I was a bird, I would much rather have something to stand on. Although, I don't know why so many companies would make bird feeders without perches if they didn't work.
Reasoning:
Throughout my research, I found that birds are most often attracted to flowers, bird feeders, or any other colored object, that has the same or similar colors to their own plumage. I could find no hard evidence online about what color bird there is most of in North Carolina. Our state bird is a cardinal, but I don't see many of them around. I see a lot of yellow finches and as you may have guessed, Yellow Finches are yellow. Since I have a yellow bird feeder, the most seed will probably be eaten from the yellow bird feeder.
Variables:
An independent variable is something in your experiment that you can change. My independent variable is the color of the bird feeders. A dependent variable is the variable in your experiment that your are depending or relying on to make your experiment work. My dependent variable is the birds. This is because if the birds don't eat from one of the bird feeders, I won't be able to have an experiment. My controlled variable was the color of the bird feeders as well because their colors stayed the same throughout the whole experiment.
Materials:
Procedure:
1. Fill bird feeders with birdseed
2. Hang bird feeders
3. Leave bird feeders out for 1 week
4. Measure how much birdseed is in each bird feeder
Notes:
Week 1:
Week 2:
the seeds are sprouting!
There is a bit of mold in the feeders because of the moisture, the seeds are also sprouting. Lots of bugs.
Results:
As you can tell from my notes, the second week worked much better than the second week. And as you can see from the pictures, the yellow obviously had more birds visit. Because of moisture in the bird feeders, a bit of mold started to grow and the seeds began to sprout. Bugs started to fly around a lot which I would think would be more appealing to a bird. I am very happy with how my experiment turned out the second time.
Discussion:
The first time that I tried my experiment, The birds did not find the bird feeders. A little bit of bird seed appears to have been eaten but the level of bird seed only dropped a tiny bit. I'm not sure if this outcome is because the birds just didn't find my feeders or if it is because of my perch hypothesis. I will try my experiment again this week and hopefully it have more success. The second time I did my project, I had much better results. I sprinkled a handful of bird seed under my bird feeders to hopefully attract more birds. It definitely did.
Bibliography:
http://birding.about.com/od/attractingbirds/a/Colors-That-Attract-Birds.htm
http://birding.about.com